Do we still need digital download insurance?

Last week, Taylor Swift announced her return to Spotify after an absence of three years.

In 2014, the singer had publicly complained that artists are paid a pittance by streaming services and removed all of her music from their sites.

But to mark her album, 1989, reaching 10m sales, Swift thanked her fans by allowing her tunes to be streamed to the world. Welcome news to any (well, most) ears!

Streaming revenue's up by 60.4% worldwide in 2016, according to the Global Music Report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

So we can't help but wonder - do we even need to protect our downloads anymore?

Cry me a river (or stream)

It's easy to stream pretty much anything these days - music, films, podcasts and even TV.

In fact, according to the latest research by GoCompare, 50% of UK broadband users now watch catch up TV via the internet, using free services like BBC iPlayer while 34% stream films and box sets using apps like Netflix.[1]

With a multitude of titles at our fingertips, it's hardly surprising that most people are choosing not to fill up their homes with hard copies.

But we may be becoming too reliant on the wonders of the internet to provide us with all of our entertainment.

These streaming services may be riding a high wave for now but, as some have argued, Spotify could go under at any minute and we'll lose all the music that we've carefully compiled into playlists.

Not only that but any artist could 'pull a Swift' and sashay away from streaming whenever they want.